Sunday, October 24, 2004

I'm not sure what to make of Lawrence O'Donnell's appearance on Scarborough Country on Friday. While Swift Boat Vets spokesman John O'Neill was trying to talk, O'Donnell just kept repeating that O'Neill was lying and demanded documentary evidence with John Kerry's name or initials. Is this the lowest or highest form of a cheap cable shout show?

The Sunday Times carries a piece debating what Jon Stewart and The Daily Show should and shouldn't be or do. I'm still trying to figure out the point of it, but there was this bit:

Even Mr. Carlson admits that Mr. Stewart is something of a political idealist, believing that issues matter. The comedian stayed at CNN for several hours after the show to discuss the issues that he raised on the air.

"It was heartfelt," Mr. Carlson said this week in an interview. "He needed to do this."

Saturday, October 23, 2004

"An absolute lie" is what Court TV's Lisa Bloom calls allegations that she relayed a settlement offer to O'Reilly's camp. Bloom, in turn, accuses Fox, notorious for unprofessional behavior toward those they don't like, of trashing her because her analysis isn't kind to O'Reilly. And indeed, an anonymous source identified as a "Fox insider" was trashing Bloom to TVNewser as early as Tuesday. But Fox News spokesman Brian Lewis says, "It's ironic that Lisa is accusing Fox of doing the same thing she's doing on a nightly basis to Bill and the network." What Bloom is accusing Fox of, however, is malicious lying. Lewis continues, "By not disclosing her conflict of interest, Lisa is just adding to her credibility problem."

A photo of a young woman who was killed in a Red Sox celebration appeared on the cover of Friday's Boston Herald. The photo showed the woman lying on the ground, bleeding, and provoked a vocal negative response from readers. The paper is apologizing.

Seattle's 1090 KYCW will become 1090 KTPK "Progressive Talk Radio" on Monday, an Air America affiliate. 1090 is the former frequency of the legendary KING calls, a 50,000-watt blowtorch, and marks Infinity Radio's first foray into the liberal talk format.

Early reaction from liberals and conservatives to Sinclair's pre-election special is that Sinclair was more than fair to Kerry. Commenters at Free Republic, a conservative site, remark that "It looks more like a Kerry campaign ad about half the time," "I hoping for some 'steak' and all we're getting is hamburger," and, "More attention was given to Kerry's movie and it's director, George Butler, etc. than any of the Stolen Honor movie."

The folks over at Daily Kos, a liberal site, seem to agree. One commenter posted a long description of the piece and summarized, "I think if it has any impact it will help Kerry. I'm a bit stunned!"

Friday, October 22, 2004

Multiple sources directly connected to the Mackris case told "CJ" on Friday that lawyers for the talk show host and the TV producer were in serious talks and that a settlement appeared "imminent."

"CJ" has also learned there apparently was a settlement offer early on. A source close to Mackris claims that before the lawsuits were launched, O'Reilly offered Mackris $4 million out of his own pocket to keep quiet.

It appears Mackris is still hoping to settle out of court. NYDN, which has had by far the best coverage of this case, cites a source close to O'Reilly as saying Mackris' attorney used Court TV's Lisa Bloom as a go-between to notify O'Reilly investigator Bo Dietl that they're "willing to settle."

Mackris' side has maintained they always wanted to settle privately, that they never demanded $60M but simply stated $60M was O'Reilly's worth to Fox, and that it was O'Reilly's side that broke off negotiations by filing the first lawsuit.

This might explain why any supposed tapes haven't yet been made public: They're being used as a bargaining chip. If the case is settled, they don't become public. Just a theory.

And a side note: The law firm defending O'Reilly generously donates to Democrats, a charge he made of Mackris' lawyer as evidence of a partisan motive against him.

Update:AP and Reuters bring word of ongoing talks between the parties.

In what appears to be a tacit admission that O'Reilly said at least some of the things Mackris alleges, O'Reilly's attorneys have filed a new affidavit demanding Mackris hand over whatever tapes she has, claiming they will prove O'Reilly was set up.

But in an interview with NYDN, Mackris asks, "How is it my fault, what has happened here? I could have stood naked in front of him and there was still no way he should be allowed to get away with what he did."

Mackris still refuses O'Reilly's demand, however, asking, "Why should we tell what evidence we have? [...] They've forced our hand enough. Now they're going on my timetable, and we want this trial to be in court."

Mackris maintains that O'Reilly's team ended negotiations by leveling the first lawsuit, and accuses O'Reilly of "trying to destroy me" ever since.

Struggling NBC-owned cable network CNBC is currently in talks to get second runs of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. CNBC wants to air Late Night a day after it airs on NBC, most likely at 10 pm, starting next month. Sources tell The Biz that the channel is just waiting for O'Brien to sign off on the deal.

Moving Late Night into prime time would likely mean the mercy killing of McEnroe, the train wreck of a talk show with former tennis star John McEnroe. Ratings for McEnroe have occasionally been too low for Nielsen to measure. CNBC will also have an opening at 7 pm when the Washington-based talk show Capital Report goes away, but we're betting on 10 pm.

Sean Hannity interviewed Dick Cheney in the first half-hour of Hannity & Colmes tonight, and afterward, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu was invited on as the "first Democrat to respond" to the interview. Hannity asked Landrieu about Kerry's reference to Cheney's lesbian daughter, and Landrieu responded:

First I want to say, I wouldn't call what just happened with the vice president an interview, it was an infomercial for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.

Hannity was furious about this, calling Landrieu a "lousy senator," saying, "If you don't like it, I don't really care," and referring to Landrieu's comments as an "insult" and "cheap shot." Landrieu denied it was an insult, that it was her sincere judgement of the interview. When Hannity interrupted her, Landrieu ojected that he didn't interrupt the vice president. Hannity shot back, "Well, you're not the vice president and I doubt you ever will be."

While Colmes had his time with the Senator, Hannity jumped in with a finger-pointing retort ("It's a lie and you know it!") in response to Landrieu talking about privatization of Social Security. Colmes chided Hannity: "It's my turn to talk."

At the end of the interview, Landrieu talked about Republicans accusing Democrats of "giving aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden." Hannity asserted that she couldn't prove what she had just said, and invited Landrieu back on the show tomorrow to give the quotes.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Sinclair stock rebounded from its steep declines this week, up 79 cents to $7.05, though that was still down 54 cents from its opening last Monday. This, after Sinclair annonuced its pre-election plans.

Sinclair had always mantained that it would not air Stolen Honor in its entirety, but its announcement that it will split the film into segments and intersperse it with a panel discussion seems to have satisfied most of its protesters, though one group is still keeping up pressure. I suppose things depend on what the panel has to say.

From NYDN we learn that Mackris' lawyer says he was never seeking $60M, he maintains that he was only valuing O'Reilly as worth $60M to Fox. Lawyers for Fox say they offered a $2M settlement, but both O'Reilly's and Mackris' attorneys dispute that. Also, a source close to Mackris has supposedly given to CourtTV's Lisa Bloom the manuscript of a book that was previously characterized as some sort of tell-all. Bloom says the book is in fact a work of fiction that doesn't mention O'Reilly or Fox at all. In addition, regarding the incident in which Mackris supposedly "went nuts" with other customers in a hotel bar, it turns out the bar evicted the other patrons and offered Mackris a gift to make amends.

Mackris has now updated her lawsuit, accusing Fox of retribution for a story published the also-Murdoch-owned NY Post, and we're guessing it's this one.

The Post is now reporting on a lawsuit Mackris' attorney filed a couple years ago, which is called "eerily similar" to the current suit.